Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Sunday brought more family to Galveston. My brother and niece came from NYC, Mom from upstate NY was already here, another brother from Oakland, CA, one nephew from Houston with his girfriend and another nephew fromHouston with his wife and daughter. We had one cancellation, my step-sister and her husband were snowbound in Denver because of the big blizzard and their flight was cancelled.

It was a blustery day. My daughter and I took a walk about ten blocks to the Gulf of Mexico. The wind had whipped up the surf and was blowing pretty hard. Not too many people were out. We enjoyed the architecture of the old homes in the historic district. When we got back to the house it was a very active scene with the preparation for a Christmas Eve party my sister and brother -in -law were having.

MY NYC brother, his daughter, my two kids and I decided to explore the local Target for last minute gifts and stocking stuffers. We drove down Broadway to and had an uneventful shopping experience. The cashiers were very friendly. One thing I noticed was the vast number of old Chevy Suburbans driving around. I guess cars last longer down here because they don't rust like they do in the Northeast.

Once we were back at the house there was constant movement of family in and out of the kitchen, bathrooms and rotation of turns at the computer for internet surfing and e-mailing. We were checking blogs, My Space and the weather back home. Food was served and drinks were flowing. Adults were having interesting but seemingly fragmented conversations while the kids had staked their claim to the big screen TV with surround sound. As the clock progressed towards evening the preparations for the party hastened.

The party was attended by all the family members that were in town and by many friends of my borther in law and sister. Several were members of the faculty at Texas A & M - Galveston. I think that most of the sceince department were at the party. Plus there was a Russian Post-Doctoral student that wandered around clutching his translation books, he did not appear to speak any English, but he smiled alot. The party wound down around 9:30 and some of us got ready to go to the historical Trinity Episcopal Church for the Christmas Eve Service.